


Respite - Christmas Tree

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1533]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22340482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Abby loves Christmas and Christmas Trees, so naturally she decorates Christmas trees for display everywhere including one for the team.
Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1533]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/444514
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: 2020 Twelve Days of Christmas, The Writer's Guild Community





	Respite - Christmas Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 07/12/2003 for the word [respite](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2003/07/12/respite).
> 
> respite[ res-pit ]  
> noun  
> a delay or cessation for a time, especially of anything distressing or trying; an interval of relief:  
> to toil without respite.  
> temporary suspension of the execution of a person condemned to death; reprieve.  
> verb (used with object), res·pit·ed, res·pit·ing.  
> to relieve temporarily, especially from anything distressing or trying; give an interval of relief from.  
> to grant delay in the carrying out of (a punishment, obligation, etc.).
> 
> This is for Day 8 of the Twelve Days of Christmas challenge. Today's prompt is Christmas Tree.

Abby watched the nuns prepare for Christmas. Unlike the stores all around, the nuns didn’t have a tree with a bunch of empty presents underneath it, instead they started with a nativity scene. Abby had always been taught that Christmas was the celebration of Christ’s life, but she’d done research as an adult and realized that Christianity had taken over a pagan holiday. 

It was great to celebrate his birth, but was he really born on Christmas day? She had her doubts. She’d never mentioned them to the nuns, but she couldn’t help wondering if it was all a big lie to encourage people to Christianity. 

She loved this part the best. It never failed to fill her with joy to watch the nuns put up the giant Christmas tree. They always seemed to find the biggest possible tree. It had to be to come anywhere close to touching the ceiling in the chapel.

They needed a ladder in order to reach the top branches. Fortunately, they had one as they regularly hung decorations from the ceiling. They always started at the top.

This year they were starting with a beautiful red garland. One of the nuns stayed at the top of the ladder and wrapped it around the top branches and then handed it down to the next person on the ladder and so on until the garland was completely intertwined with the tree branches. Then they started on the lights, using a similar method. 

Now, it was really time to decorate the tree as they grabbed boxes of ornaments and placed them all over the tree. They made sure to include some candy and other edible decorations for the little ones to pick from during service. The final ornament placed was always the gold star at the top of the tree. 

Sometimes Abby helped out with the ornaments and other times she just watched. Either way, she always enjoyed the sight of the tree once it was finished. No matter what had happened during the day, seeing the tree brought her a respite from it all.

She glanced at her watch and frowned as she realized she needed to get back to NCIS. She was glad that she’d been able to watch the nuns setting up their Christmas tree, but now it was time to check her babies. Balboa needed the results for his case, so she better hurry up.

She quickly checked her various tests and was glad to see that she had results. Unfortunately, she didn’t think it would help Balboa much since she hadn’t gotten a match on the DNA. At least if he found her a suspect, she could confirm it was the murderer. 

She sent Balboa’s SFA an IM that results were ready and waited for them to show up. Unlike Gibbs, they didn’t have a sense for these things and wouldn’t appear without being notified. 

Speaking of Gibbs, she wondered if they’d caught a case, yet. She hoped not. They were supposed to decorate the team tree this evening and that wouldn’t happen if the team was working a case instead.

Abby loved this time of year. She wished there was a little bit more snow sometimes, but she loved how green and red everything was. She even loved the silver and gold trees and the pink and blue trees that shops did to be different.

She gave Balboa and his SFA the info and sent them on their way. She considered going up to the bullpen to see what the team was up to, but decided she really didn’t want to know. Instead, she finished up some paperwork that she was always putting off so that she could start on her office Christmas tree. 

She could only spare room for a small one, but every year she changed how it was decorated. She even had a few different colored fake trees that she switched out for variety each year. After all, it was her job to bring some cheer to the stuffy NCIS office.

This year she was feeling a black tree. She’d had to hand paint it herself as even the black artificial trees weren’t black enough for her. She really dug it, though. 

Now for the really tough decision. Black on black? Or should she pick silver or red or gold or something else for the ornament color.

Just then Tony walked into her lab. “Tony! Just the person I was looking for.” Abby quickly hugged him.

”Hey Abs.”

“Which one?” Abby pointed to the boxes of ornaments she’d pulled out. Each box contained a different color of ornaments. 

“Why not go with the rainbow effect?” Tony suggested.

“Nah. That’s for pride month or the pride parade. This is for Christmas.”

“How about maroon and silver?”

“Ohio State colors?” Abby raised an eyebrow.

“You caught me.” Tony grinned.

“Sounds perfect. I’ll get started right away, but why are you here?”

“Oh, just checking if you’re going to be ready for the Christmas tree decorating party.”

“Of course. You guys haven’t caught a case?”

“Not yet,” Tony held up his crossed fingers.

“Still hoping, huh?”

“Yep. You think you could help me out with a surprise?”

“Of course. Abby’s on the job. What do you need?”

“Can you bring your other trees to the Christmas tree decorating party?”

“Why?”

“You’ll find out.” Tony winked.

“Ok, ok,” Abby chuckled. “I’ll see you there.”

“Great! You’re the best, Abbs.”

“Just be careful. You know how Gibbs is about surprises.”

“I know. I got it under control.”

“You better.” Abby shot him a glare.

Tony held his hands up in surrender as he left. Abby shook her head after him. She really hoped he knew what he was doing. She was looking forward to time with the team and she’d be really disappointed if it was ruined.

Before she could leave for the party, Balboa sent word that he needed a DNA swab from one of their suspects. Abby grabbed the supplies and headed up to interrogation to get the sample. She’d start it running against the murder suspect blood from the scene and in the morning they could see if it matched.

She gathered the sample, pretty much ignoring the suspect expect for the swab and vanished back to her lab to get things started. Grabbing the extra trees Tony had requested along with the homemade ornaments she had from years past, Abby finally headed over to Gibbs’ house. 

She pulled into the driveway and stopped with a sigh. Gibbs had put up his Christmas lights. The outside of the house looked lovely. It was almost like a family with kids lived here. 

She wasn’t surprised to find Jackson inside with everyone else. He was pretty much the only one who could get Gibbs to decorate these days. She felt bad for Gibbs.

She knew he missed the family he’d lost. She knew she’d never replace his daughter, but she hoped that he saw her as family and that maybe the reminders didn’t hurt as bad anymore. That’s why she tried to do these team get togethers.

She wanted to give Gibbs some of the family time that he was missing. Plus, it was good for Tony whose father’s idea of a family was less than ideal at times. Honestly, it made being away from her parents a little easier for her to bear too.

“I need some help with these trees,” Abby announced.

“Let’s go, McGee,” Tony tilted his head at the door.

“What are we doing?”

“Bringing in the trees for decorating.”

“What for?”

“You’ll see.”

They finally got all five of the little Christmas trees set up and ready for decorating.

“What are we doing, Tony?”

“Well, I had a special visitor today.”

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs warned. “Get on with it.”

“The nuns suggested that there were a couple of shelters that couldn’t afford their own trees this year. I thought we could decorate some of Abby’s extra trees and deliver them to bring some extra cheer.”

“What? You’re donating my trees?”

“No, Abs. They’re just borrowing them. That’s ok, right? If not, I can run out and pick up some others.”

“No, it’s fine, but I better get them back afterwards, mister.”

“Don’t worry, Abs. I’ll make sure they know to take really good care of them and that you’ll want them back.”

“Also, I’m going with you to deliver them.” Abby put her hands on her hips and gave Tony a look that brooked no argument.

“That’s fine, Abs, but first we have to get them decorated.”

“What about mistletoe? Do they need mistletoe?”

“I don’t know, Abs. What are you thinking?”

“I have a bunch of extra mistletoe from decorating my lab and what’s Christmas without kissing under the mistletoe.”

“These are a bunch of young kids, Abby, and their hardworking parents.”

“So?”

“I don’t know if they’ll want mistletoe.”

“Pshaw. It will be fine.”

“I thought this was a Christmas tree decorating party,” Gibbs grunted.

“On it, boss,” they all chorused.

Each of them took a tree and started decorating. Abby used her homemade ornaments on the tiny green tree that she’d claimed as hers to decorate. Tony, Gibbs, and Jackson were working on decorating Gibbs' tree while McGee worked on one of the smaller trees like Abby.

Jackson vanished into the kitchen and came back out with hot chocolate and cookies for everyone to share. He insisted that everyone needed to take a break. Abby cornered Tony as they took their break. 

“Why didn’t the nuns ask me for help?”

“I don’t think they wanted to add more to your shoulders.” Tony shrugged.

Abby frowned. She was still a bit bothered that the nuns had brought up the issue with Tony and not her. “How did you find out?”

“Well I’ve actually been volunteering at one of the shelters in my time off.”

“You?” Abby blinked in shock.

“Yeah. It’s not a big deal.” Tony waved it off.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have come with.”

“After the Habitat for Humanity disaster I wanted to do it on my own without needing your help.”

“You have nothing to be worried about. Just because constructing things isn’t your thing doesn’t mean you can’t help out at a shelter.”

“Thanks Abs.”

“You’ll have to point out which shelter is the one you volunteer at when we deliver trees.”

“You got it, Abs.”

Abby smiled and Tony nodded before drifting away to give McGee a hard time about his decorating skills. Abby watched the others interact and couldn’t help being grateful that she was part of this family. Her family meant everything to her, but this team right here was where her heart lived.

She didn’t know where she’d be without them. When she’d first started at NCIS, she’d never imagined forming bonds like this. This right here was what the Christmas season was all about; family, friends, and strangers gathering together and making merry.

After everyone had their share of cookies and cocoa, they returned to decorating the Christmas trees. Gibbs’ tree would remain as the team tree for their own Christmas celebrations. The rest would be delivered to the homeless shelters. 

Abby bounced excitedly as she waited for Tony to be ready to go deliver the trees. They were already all loaded up in the back. She would ride in the back to make sure none of the trees moved around too much and got damaged. McGee was going to come along and help make sure the trees didn’t get injured too. She hadn’t told him about Tony’s shelter. That would be a secret just between Tony and her. 

As she watched the people running the shelter be so thankful for the decorated trees, she couldn’t help thinking that maybe she didn’t need them back. Maybe it would be better to just donate them to the shelter. She could always order more trees online.

It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it. For being a government agency, NCIS paid her well. That might have something to do with her getting regular offers from outside agencies, but honestly Abby had no intention of leaving NCIS. It was her family now. She was happy here.

**Author's Note:**

> The dictionary.com series has no stories already written for it after this one, so I will be posting at least no more stories before I stop posting again. I'm hoping to get more stories written before then, so that I don't stop posting for a while. Wish me luck! 
> 
> The 2020 Prompts are open now! Go forth and prompt me! [Click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2020/profile) to add your prompts to my 2020 Prompt Collection. Just click the sign up link. ;) I'm hoping to complete all the 2020 prompts by the end of 2021. 
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes. Please note if you have already voted in the poll and would like to request more stories you can just add a comment to the poll. Please include the name along with the prompt, so that I can appropriately gift the prompt to you.
> 
> For any authors that want to chat and/or are looking for a place where they can toss plot ideas around and get input from people, you can come join my discord server that is specifically geared towards writing/encouraging people to write and authors. The invite link is [here](https://discord.gg/HFvwpCq). If you're not an author, but want to chat with me about writing/stories or anything else you are welcome to join. I reserve the right to boot you from my server if all you do is pester me about updates, however. *grin* Really anyone who wants to talk about writing and/or plot ideas for various stories is welcome to join. 
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 


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